The present invention relates generally to computer programs and methods of molding an article, and more specifically to computer readable program code which causes a computer to establish a modified molding profile based on information which corresponds to detected irregularities on a molded article, and to a method of molding an article where the method includes providing computer readable program code which causes a computer to establish a modified molding profile based on information which corresponds to detected irregularities on the molded article.
Typically, within an automated molding process, a computer is communicatingly connected to a molding machine having a mold unit which has a male mold section and a female mold section. When the male mold section and the female mold section come together, they form a mold cavity in which a plastic material is injected in order to mold an article. A computer program is typically run on the computer, and the computer program allows a human operator to set certain molding profile parameters. The parameters influence whether an article is molded perfectly by the molding machine. Among the parameters which the human operator typically sets via the computer are: the amount of plastic material to be injected, a plasticize profile, a backpressure profile, an inject profile, a valve gating profile, a valve gating temperature, and a mold temperature. If these parameters are optimally set by the human operator, the molding machine will perfectly mold an article. If the parameters are not optimally set by the human operator, it is possible that the molding machine will mold an article which is irregular. Common irregularities on a molded article include "voids" (locations on the molded article where the injected plastic never reached) and "flashes" (locations on the molded article where injected plastic material seeped out of the mold cavity because the mold sections of the mold unit moved slightly away from each other during molding). Because it is undesirable to mold an article which has irregularities, it is important that the human operator optimally set the parameters. However, usually an article is not molded perfectly on the first attempt. Therefore, generally the human operator will examine the irregular article and decide how to modify the parameters on a subsequent attempt to mold the article. Because there are so many parameters to set, frequently the human operator will have to attempt molding the article many times before the article is molded perfectly. Presumably, the more experienced the human operator, the less attempts the human operator needs to mold an article perfectly. This is because an experienced human operator knows, after examining an irregular article, what adjustments to make to the parameters so that the article will be molded perfectly on the subsequent attempt. In contrast, a more inexperienced human operator will typically need more attempts to mold an article perfectly. Therefore, it has been costly to have an inexperienced human operator set the parameters when molding an article.
The difficulties discussed hereinabove are substantially eliminated by the present invention.